compare / google-analytics
Virling vs Google Analytics
Google Analytics is free and powerful, but revenue by channel needs ecommerce events, often sent from your server, and subscription renewals usually lose their source. Virling reads the payments themselves.
| Virling | Google Analytics | |
|---|---|---|
| Open source | Yes, AGPLv3 | No |
| Self-host | Yes, one Rust binary with embedded storage. No Postgres, ClickHouse or Redis. | No |
| Payments | Stripe, Dodo Payments, Polar and LemonSqueezy, read with a key, no event code | No direct sync. Send purchase events yourself, often with the Measurement Protocol |
| Renewals keep their first channel | Yes. Renewals keep the channel of the first payment | Usually not: renewals after the lookback window tend to show as direct or unassigned |
| Revenue per visitor by channel | Yes, for every channel, referrer, campaign, page and country | Possible with custom reports |
| AI assistant traffic | Yes. AI assistant visits and AI crawler reads, with revenue | Referrals only |
Based on Google Analytics's public docs as of October 2026. See Google Analytics for their current features and pricing. Something out of date? Tell us.
When Google Analytics is the better fit
You run ads in Google's ecosystem, need deep marketing reports, or want a free tool and have time for tag setup.
When Virling is the better fit
You want revenue by channel from your payment provider in minutes, renewals credited to the channel that won the customer, and your data on your own server.